The birth rate total refers to the number of live births per 1,000 people each year. The birth rate was 1.92 children per 1,000 women in 2016. This is a significant decline since 1955 in the number of live births per every 1,000 women. Therefore, this can be a result of growing independence of women, with more women deciding to have children later or not at all and pursuing a career first rather than having children first. Feminists would argue that this is a symptom of women beginning to fight against the patriarchal society that would often have pushed them into a having children first than a career.